Schu me the way to Amarillo - Summer 2025 Transfer Thread

[BWFC_Insane]

I’d like a reader of the game with a big head it and thou shall not pass type.

That’s a classic combo - Paul Jones and Sam Allardyce, or Gary Cahill with… Zat Knight? Andy O’Brien? Certainly it worked with John Terry…

But would you roll with Toal or Forino as the big mon? And who, within reason, would be the classy lad?

For me the problem is there are question marks over the defenders. Toal if he is fit and rested is imo our best centre back. He was plagued with injuries last season and said he struggled without a break in the summer.

Forino I’m not sure about yet. Not seen enough of him yet.

I do think Forrester is a potentially good reader of the game but Keith Hill says he’s likely best in the middle of a back three with players round him and I think that even though that’s Hill it sort of is how I feel about him. Could he make the reader of a pair? Maybe.

Johnston is similar to Will for me. Bonus left footed. Decent reader of it and tough - but is he a back two centre half?

I’m certainly as of yet not convinced Toal and Forino go together. Not convinced they won’t either. I just feel they might be a bit too similar. Both right footed too.

I’d say that barring new signings in this area which I think we need but maybe don’t have the room in the squad and given most teams don’t play two up front - maybe Forrester with Toal/Forino might be an option. For a reader and a big man. Maybe when teams play two up you do want Toal and Forino for the man to man striker marking job.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Interesting stuff. I don’t worry that much about them both being right-footed - I don’t think it’s nearly as big a problem in a back four as it is in a back three where the outside centre-backs are asked to play as auxiliary midfielders. In a back four they’re far less likely to ball-carry or overload; they’ll be home minding the shop.

[BWFC_Insane]

Interesting stuff. I don’t worry that much about them both being right-footed - I don’t think it’s nearly as big a problem in a back four as it is in a back three where the outside centre-backs are asked to play as auxiliary midfielders. In a back four they’re far less likely to ball-carry or overload; they’ll be home minding the shop.

Yeah it can work. Ideally you’d want a right and left. I guess another good pair would be Taggart and Fairclough. Big man and reader. Both physically tough though.

[Prufrock]

Left footed centre half in league one is like a keeper who is "good with his feet". I mean nice enough if it happens but good grief there are more pressing concerns.

[Bijou Bob]

Much as I like both Forrester and George J, they can both go for me. Toal and Forino plus one other experienced head gives us a bit more steel in the centre, but critically also offers potential goals at the other end. In League 1, you need your centre backs to be weighing in with double figures between them if automatic promotion is the aim. Our centre backs last year were lacking at both ends.

Playing with wingers hopefully means we end up with better quality balls into the box on set pieces, not Sheehan's battering of the nearest opposition player. That should present our centre back pairing with far more opportunities.

[The_Gun]

Much as I like both Forrester and George J, they can both go for me. Toal and Forino plus one other experienced head gives us a bit more steel in the centre, but critically also offers potential goals at the other end.In League 1, you need your centre backs to be weighing in with double figures between them if automatic promotion is the aim. Our centre backs last year were lacking at both ends.

Playing with wingers hopefully means we end up with better quality balls into the box on set pieces, not Sheehan's battering of the nearest opposition player. That should present our centre back pairing with far more opportunities.

What makes you think that?

Birmingham got two goals from their centre backs.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Birmingham are a hell of an outlier, but there’s many methods of cat-skinning.

Wrexham went straight up with Brum thanks in part to Max Cleworth’s 7 league goals from centre-back, but none from any of their other CBs - Eoghan O’Connell, Dan Scarr, Lewis Brunt and Tom O’Connor (not that one), who made 106 league apps between them. Then again, they got 8 each from Rathbone, Fletcher and Elliott Lee, 7 from Sam Smith who only joined in January and 6 from Marriott, so it’s not like they needed help from the back lads.

For Schumacher’s title-winners, centre-backs Gillesphey and Scarr got 2 league goals each, Jameses Wilson and Bolton 1 each. But then, that side had Hardie scoring 13, Ennis 12, Morgan Whittaker 9, Cosgrove 8 and Azaz 8.

You need goals, and I’d welcome them from anywhere. I think Forino might get 5 or 6 in a full season, and Toal might with decent delivery, but it’s all, if you pardon the pun, up in the air.

[BWFC_Insane]

^Yeah centre backs scoring helps. But I feel that as DSB says sharing goals round the team is critical in this league now. There aren’t many McGinlay’s around who get 30 plus anymore. And when you think about it people will say a striker getting 15 is a good return but that’s still a lot of games they don’t score in. And you need goals in every game to win it. And of course some of the goals you score will be in non winning efforts.

I don’t see many goalscorers in this side. Which worries me. Midfield don’t score that many and certainly not in a regular spread across the season. Schon, Tutu etc don’t look like wingers to me and I don’t see them scoring the goals we’d want from those roles.

We need more natural strikers of the ball in midfield and wide players who are going to not only beat their men and show the pace and drive to hit the byline but also who can finish and get goals.

You can’t rely on strikers and the goals need to be shared round the side. And much more evenly than they have been. I don’t see that happening without new types of players arriving.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Medical time.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

We need more natural strikers of the ball in midfield and wide players who are going to not only beat their men and show the pace and drive to hit the byline but also who can finish and get goals.

Should be easy

I think if they’re given a full season each and licence to belt it from 25 yards, we could expect 5/6 goals each from Tomo and Morley, probably Sheehan too - but i don’t think all three of them will play the majority of fixtures…

[TonyDomingos]

We need more natural strikers of the ball in midfield and wide players who are going to not only beat their men and show the pace and drive to hit the byline but also who can finish and get goals.

Should be easy

I think if they’re given a full season each and licence to belt it from 25 yards, we could expect 5/6 goals each from Tomo and Morley, probably Sheehan too - but i don’t think all three of them will play the majority of fixtures…

Collins reckons he and McAtee could score more if played in their preferred positions.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... rediciton/

I guess the interview is timed to coincide with the arrival of Dalby.

[BWFC_Insane]

We need more natural strikers of the ball in midfield and wide players who are going to not only beat their men and show the pace and drive to hit the byline but also who can finish and get goals.

Should be easy

I think if they’re given a full season each and licence to belt it from 25 yards, we could expect 5/6 goals each from Tomo and Morley, probably Sheehan too - but i don’t think all three of them will play the majority of fixtures…

Collins reckons he and McAtee could score more if played in their preferred positions.

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/2 ... rediciton/

I guess the interview is timed to coincide with the arrival of Dalby.

What are their preferred positions? And how does that fit into a system we might play? If we are playing a 433 then we need proper wingers who can deliver either side of a striker - we don’t have such wingers but certainly don’t want Collins and McAtee to be used there - at least not both - we might get away with one or the other sometimes.

It’s one of my reservations with a back four - I struggle to see McAtee or Collins fitting that system well.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

What are their preferred positions? And how does that fit into a system we might play? If we are playing a 433 then we need proper wingers who can deliver either side of a striker - we don’t have such wingers but certainly don’t want Collins and McAtee to be used there - at least not both - we might get away with one or the other sometimes.

It’s one of my reservations with a back four - I struggle to see McAtee or Collins fitting that system well.

To me, that’s a subset of the bigger worry - that we have up to half a dozen players whose best position is 10/split striker. And in terms of cost, they didn’t come cheap - Randall, McAtee, Collins, CMG. You can chuck in Lolos too, who cost a fee.

That problem could be lessened by playing 4231 rather than 433, but that brings its own problems, largely defensive/in transition. If we get counterattacked, a 10 who sees himself as a split striker is likely to be little more than a concerned observer from afar, whereas at least your two 8s should know they have to get up and down to protect the 6. Also, how attacking do your full-backs get, if your “wide forwards” aren’t chalk-huggers?

One further problem with 4231. If you only have two midfielders, who are they? We all want a new enforcer/general, but in a 4231 does that only leave room for one of Sheehan, Morley and Thomason?

A summer of deep thinking. And difficult choices.

[BWFC_Insane]

What are their preferred positions? And how does that fit into a system we might play? If we are playing a 433 then we need proper wingers who can deliver either side of a striker - we don’t have such wingers but certainly don’t want Collins and McAtee to be used there - at least not both - we might get away with one or the other sometimes.

It’s one of my reservations with a back four - I struggle to see McAtee or Collins fitting that system well.

To me, that’s a subset of the bigger worry - that we have up to half a dozen players whose best position is 10/split striker. And in terms of cost, they didn’t come cheap - Randall, McAtee, Collins, CMG. You can chuck in Lolos too, who cost a fee.

That problem could be lessened by playing 4231 rather than 433, but that brings its own problems, largely defensive/in transition. If we get counterattacked, a 10 who sees himself as a split striker is likely to be little more than a concerned observer from afar, whereas at least your two 8s should know they have to get up and down to protect the 6. Also, how attacking do your full-backs get, if your “wide forwards” aren’t chalk-huggers?

One further problem with 4231. If you only have two midfielders, who are they? We all want a new enforcer/general, but in a 4231 does that only leave room for one of Sheehan, Morley and Thomason?

A summer of deep thinking. And difficult choices.

I don’t think any of them are any good as number 10’s. I don’t want to play a number 10.

CMG should play wide. Collins wide or up front.

McAtee no idea but I guess with a big striker.

Randall behind a striker like Dalby feels counter intuitive to me. If you are playing Dalby you need two out wide with quality delivery (can we find someone who can cross a ball please?) and someone behind in the Parky Vela mold or Big Sam Nolan mold, a hard running goalscorer who will work off the striker.

[The_Gun]

If I could work out how to post a picture on here I'd do this with lineup builder, but as is I'll have to do it manually.

A guess at our strongest lineup in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Dalby in the building:

Southwood

JDC Toal Johnston Conway

Morley Sheehan

Tutu Randall Collins

Dalby

[Worthy4England]

Agree with the first bit, mate. I would genuinely struggle to say "that's our preferred No10," looking at any/all of them. I sorta thought we'd earmarked Randall, but he was in the main that poor, struggling to settle in, that it was a bit difficult to tell.

[Worthy4England]

If I could work out how to post a picture on here I'd do this with lineup builder, but as is I'll have to do it manually.

A guess at our strongest lineup in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Dalby in the building:

Southwood

JDC Toal Johnston Conway

Morley Sheehan

Tutu Randall Collins

Dalby

When you build your post, scroll past Save Draft/Preview/Submit to where there are two + signs in blue boxes - Options and attachments.

Hit attachment, hit little button saying add files. when it's been uploaded, hit "place inline"

Job done.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I hope and think Collins can do a good job on the left, but it would be largely cutting in.

Randall drowned partly because he didn’t have options to pass to and I think there’s a player in there if he’s got those options (maybe not one worth a seven-figure fee, but we can’t change that). Randall also played well for Exeter as a 10 playing off a 9, often running beyond him - even as a target man Dalby doesn’t always have to play with his back to goal.

McAtee I still can’t figure out but he ain’t a winger or a 9 so “second striker” it’ll have to be.

Mendes Gomes could be a winger, a 10 or a f**king fireman, for all we’ve seen of him.

We can fit those people in but as you say, can they serve up crosses? There’s plenty of “when was the last time we had a 9 who could attack crosses” but an equally pertinent question is when there were last any decent crosses to attack.

Whether it’s 433, 4231 or a mix thereof, we need people who can serve the striker.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

That midfield scares the shit out of me Gun. Even more so with the 3 in front

[The_Gun]

That midfield scares the shit out of me Gun. Even more so with the 3 in front

Yeah, me too. I just don’t think we have any good combinations in there right now.